Halakhic Positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

In Halakhic Positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, insights into Jewish law from the preeminent figure of twentieth-century modern Orthodoxy are presented in a clear and concise manner. Commonly known as "the Rav," Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt"l, has stimulated and influenced the intellectual mind and touched the sensitive hearts of thousands of people. While he was not necessarily known as a decisor, or poseik, of halakha, he was widely recognized as an individual who had the uncanny ability to conceptualize the spirit of Jewish law on a universal level. Throughout his lifetime, the Rav published few works, transmitting his Torah knowledge through classes and lectures instead. As a student of Rabbi Soloveitchik for many years, Rabbi Aharon Ziegler accumulated a vast library of notes and tapes on the Rav's halakhot. In this volume he shares the Rav's unique and perhaps lesser known halakhic positions on a wide range of topics, including: *The procedure for lighting candles on Friday night; *Celebrating Thanksgiving and eating turkey; *Using grape juice for the four cups of wine at a Seder; *Giving an aliyah on Mincha Yom Kippur to someone who cannot fast; *Covering one's head during davening; *Fast days and pregnant women; *Bris Milah through a nonobservant Mohel; *Discarding old, worn-out tzitzis; and *Many other issues involving the Sabbath, holidays, prayer, and life cycle events. Whether studied in the synagogue, school, or Jewish home, these words of wisdom from the Rav provide glimpses into the exceptional mind of one of the greatest thinkers in Jewish history.

Rabbi Aharon Ziegler, spiritual leader of Congregation Agudath Achim of Boro Park in Brooklyn, New York for the past thirty-five years, is a retired librarian for the New York City Board of Education. A Student of the Rav for many years, Rabbi Ziegler does extensive lecturing and writing on the halakhic positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.